


Again

by VFFW



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Mentions of other Walking Dead characters not in the character list - very minor mentions, Minor Character Death, Minor Maggie Greene/Glenn Rhee
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2020-02-16 09:54:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18689143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VFFW/pseuds/VFFW
Summary: Michonne and Daryl both wake up in the beginning, remembering.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone that's read most of my Walking Dead stories MY OTP is Daryl and Michonne. Michonne and Rick never clicked to me (I know I'm in the minority) and the way the writers wrote them getting together, I think, was a huge disservice to Michonne. HUGE! It was only after Rick was running around Better Homes & Gardens chasing Betty Crocker, then killing Betty Crocker did he seem to see her. So. This is the way I deal with it.

Daryl woke up fast. He always did ‘cause he never knew when his ol’ man would start beatin’ on him. After the walkers it wasn’t no different. Except this time it was. He usually woke up knowing where he was and the last thing he remembered was bein’ stabbed by that bastard Beta. He hoped Connie, Henry and Lydia made it out. He told her to leave him. He knew he wasn’t gonna make it. He almost wanted to cry. He failed. He failed Merle. Hershel. Beth. Glenn. Maggie. Abraham. Sasha. Carl. Rick. Carol. Michonne and Judith and RJ. He’d wished he would have said somethin’ to ‘Chonne. How much he’d liked her. Respected her. Cared for her.

He looked around and narrowed his eyes. This looked like the tent him and Merle were stayin’ in at the quarry camp. That couldn’t be right. He heard birds and voices. Merle’s voice. He left the tent fast and came to a dead stop. He saw his brother. Alive. Younger. He looked at his hands, held them up in front of his face. They looked softer, like he hadn’t done more than hunt. Like…before.

“Darylina?” Merle mocked. “Checkin’ out your manicure?”

Daryl whipped his hands back to his sides. “What the hell, Merle. I was sleepin’. Why you gotta be a jackass?”

“Little brother, are you callin’ me a jackass?”

“Yeah.” He wasn’t like he was before. He’d lived through some shit. He thought. That dream sure as hell felt real. He looked at everyone just standin’ around. He saw Shane. He almost brought his bow up and shot his ass. Carl. He wanted to fall to his knees and apologize for not savin’ him. Andrea. Amy. Dale. T-Dog. Carol was away from everyone, trying to shrink into herself.

That was a fucked up dream. He turned and walked back to the tent.

Throwing himself on his sleeping bag, he put his arm across his eyes and tried to remember. None of them were actin’ any different from the first time. The only time? It wasn’t a dream. It was real. He was livin’ this shit again. Wasn’t he?

“What the hell is wrong with you, Daryl?” Merle yelled at him through the tent door.

“Go away, Merle.”

He didn’t know why but Merle left. Merle never did that. Usually Merle would be in botherin’ him. Maybe this was the dream and he was still dyin’.

 

 

Michonne woke up fast. She’d gotten used to it after the seven plus years of walkers. The last thing she remembered was laying down in her room with RJ. She looked beside her for her son and froze.

She saw Andre sleeping beside her. “Andre?” she whispered.

He rolled over and a voice came from outside the tent. The tent she’d shared with Andre, Mike and Terry. In Atlanta.

“Michonne?” Mike poked his head inside. She could tell he was already getting high. “I thought you were going on the run, baby?”

She wanted to grab her katana and cut off his head. She cleared her throat instead. “I…fell asleep.” He didn’t seem to remember.

“They’re getting ready to leave, Michonne,” Terry practically sing-songed. Asshole.

She stood up on shaky legs. She looked at her sleeping son and picked him up. “Arlene said she’d watch him, Mike.”

“He’s my son, too, Michonne. Terry and I can watch him.”

Michonne picked up a bag and started putting clothes, for her and Andre, inside. Mike was still standing in the door of the tent when she was finished. “Move,” she ordered harshly as she slung her katana across her back.

“Michonne, what is going on with you? I’ll watch Andre,” he practically yelled.

“Momma? You running?” Andre asked sleepily.

“Yes, peanut, but Arlene said you could play with Jakey.”

Andre’s eye lit up. “Yea,” he shouted.

“Why do you need the bag?” Mike pointed to it.

“In case we’re out overnight and Andre needs clothes, Mike. I’m not telling you again. Move,” she growled. He and Terry stepped back and let her leave.

“We need to talk, Michonne,” Mike said.

She ignored him and the look Andre was giving her. She didn’t know if that had been a prophetic dream or she really lived that nightmare, but she’d learned to listen to her instincts and she wasn’t about to stop now. Looking around she found Tom waiting for her.

“You’re taking Andre?” Tom shouted.

“No. Good luck,” she returned as she headed for the gate. The man, she forgot his name, was reluctant to let her leave but she didn’t let that stop her. Once she was outside the gate she headed for her car and was happy it was a Prius. Bought because it was economical on gas.

“Momma? Where we going?” Andre asked in a quiet voice. She’d told him he needed to be quiet because of the monsters.

“Somewhere safe, peanut,” she replied in a wobbly voice. She ran her hand over his head, then pulled him from the passenger seat, hugging him hard.

“Momma?” She had to let him go after he squeaked she was hurting him.

“I’m sorry, sweetie,” she sniffed and wiped her eyes. Her baby.

“Daddy?”

She’d mourned Mike in her own way, but she hadn’t seen the real him in years, let alone talk to him or Terry. They were dead to her and had been for a long time.

“Daddy’s not coming. He thinks it’s safe here.”

“It’s not?”

“No, baby, it’s not.”

Andre looked like he was going to cry. “Shh, Andre. We’ll come back and get him when we find another place.” Michonne knew she was lying to her son, but she didn’t care. She had him back, or never lost him, and she wasn’t going to go through it again.

She started the car and headed out of town. She didn’t know exactly where the quarry was but she had a good idea. Rachel, one of the paralegals in her office, had told her she’d camped there before with her boyfriend and had a good time. If she was reliving this, she knew exactly where Daryl was going to be. She hoped.

 

 

Shane narrowed his eyes in suspicion as the black car drove up the quarry camp road close to dark. They’d been here for close to a week and hadn’t seen anyone aside from Merle and Daryl Dixon. Glenn was starting to go into the city for things they needed and reported back it was bad. He didn’t have any confidence the government would get this under control anytime soon, not after he saw them bombing Atlanta.  He watched Lori as she sat with Carl, Carol and Sophia at the picnic table they’d set up for them to do schoolwork.

He felt bad for leaving Rick in the hospital and he hoped the soldiers shot him instead of him turning into a geek.

He watched the car, everyone did, while the driver turned it off and opened the door. It was a black lady with funny lookin’ hair. She stared at all of them before Dale rushed forward to meet her. Shane wasn’t far behind and took over the questioning before Dale even opened his mouth.

“Who are you?” he barked out.

The woman raised an eyebrow.

“Shane,” Dale sighed. “Hello.”

The woman nodded once. Shane could see Lori and Carl come over out of the corner of his eye. Pretty soon everyone was behind him and Dale.

“Well, shit. Another nigger,” he heard Merle sneer.

“Merle, that type of language isn’t necessary,” Dale remarked.

“Shut it, grandpa.”

“You can ignore him,” Andrea scoffed. “I’m Andrea,” she introduced herself and held out her hand. The woman shook it.

“Michonne,” she replied. She turned back to the car and a little boy was standing on the seat before Michonne put him on her hip. “My son, Andre.”

“Where’d you come from?”

“Atlanta.”

This woman and her one word answers.

“How’d you get out?” Glenn butted in.

The woman looked him over. “We drove.”

“Funny,” he snorted.

“We weren’t that far into the city,” the woman, Michonne, added. “It was bad.”

“Tell us something we don’t know,” Andrea sighed.

“What kind of name is Michonne?” Carl asks.

The woman, Michonne, looked him over, too. “My name.” She closed her eyes and sighed before opening them again. “It’s a family name.”

“Carl. That was rude,” Lori reprimanded him.

 

 

Daryl heard them talkin’ again and it sounded like someone new showed up. That made him get out of the tent because it might be Rick. If it is, he is livin’ this shit again. If it ain’t, that had been one fucked up dream.

He thought about it layin’ in the tent. He’d met Carol, Lori, Shane, Carl, Andrea and Dale at the camp. Rick? He showed up later. Hell, he never talked to any of those people. He didn’t know if Carl’s dad’s name was Rick. For all he knew Shane was his dad. It wasn’t until Rick showed up later, after they left Merle on the roof, when Rick came back to the camp, he found out Carl was his son. He knew, in his dream at least, they didn’t have any new people show up until him and Merle so this was different. It must have been a dream. Damn real dream.

When he got close to the car he almost passed out. She looked at him and he knew. She knew and it hadn’t been a dream. Fuck.

Daryl didn’t recognize the kid with her, but the way she was holdin’ him he knew it was her son. He never knew she'd had another son. He stood back behind everyone and listened but didn’t hear what was bein’ said. He was havin’ a hard enough time not goin’ over to her and grabbin’ on. She was real. It had been real.

 

 

It had taken longer than she thought to find the quarry. She’d had to pull over on one of the backroads and take the map out of the glovebox. Andre had fallen asleep and she was thankful. Michonne didn’t feel like answering any of her son’s questions about his father. Mike would be dead in a few hours, tomorrow at the latest.

She sighed with relief as they drove up the road close to dark. She wouldn’t have felt safe staying with Andre in the car overnight. When the car stopped she saw a few people come over. She didn’t recognize them. She woke Andre up and stepped out of the car. More of the camp showed up and she had to take a deep breath. Andrea. She didn’t look any different. When Michonne saw Carl she almost broke down to give him a hug. He was so young. She spotted Carol near the back of the group. So different from the last time she saw her. She knew Merle was with them but it was still shocking to see him. And with both hands. Glenn. Glenn was alive. She wanted to put her hand over her mouth, but she had to watch what she said and did. Lori. Carl’s mother looked like the picture from the diner. Judith’s mother. She wanted to tell the woman her daughter lived through this but not her brave, good son.

She answered the questions with one or two word answers. She’d forgotten how to be polite. It got you killed to be so trusting with information. When she saw Daryl she almost broke down. Looking at him she knew. He remembered.

“…tent?” the man who scolded Shane asked. “I’m Dale.”

“No. We don’t,” she replied. She saw Andrea’s eyebrows rise. “We can sleep in the car.”

“I have some extra blankets,” Lori offered.

“If you and your son would like to wash off, I can take you down to the lake,” an older African American woman volunteered. “I’m Jacqui.”

“Thank you.”

She followed the woman down to the lake, chattering the entire way. Michonne wanted to tell her to shut her mouth. When they reached the edge Andre started to perk up. She took off his shoes and socks and let him wade in the water.

“Don’t pay any attention to the Dixon brothers,” Jacqui recommended. “At the end of the world there still are bigots. Merle’s the loudmouth bigot. Daryl is his brother. He’s the quiet bigot.”

Michonne wanted to tell her Daryl wasn’t a bigot, he was a good man, but didn’t. She wasn’t supposed to know him. Jacqui filled her in on Dale, T-Dog, Glenn and how he was a good kid. She almost snickered. Glenn did look like a kid. Poor Carl and his dad dying just before this happened. “It’s probably better this way,” she lamented. “The man was on duty and was shot. He ended up in a coma. I guess Shane, he’s another arrogant officer, you know the type,” she continued, “had to leave him when the army showed up. Carl took it hard.”

“Giving her the gossip?” Michonne heard Andrea say from behind her. She’d heard someone coming down the path, but didn’t recognize the steps. Of course, the last time she saw Andrea she’d been bitten. Michonne had missed her fair weather friend once upon a time. She hadn’t deserved what that asshole had done to her she thought as she silently slid her katana back in its sheath.

Jacqui chuckled. “Yes. I was telling her about Carl’s father.”

“That sucks,” Andrea threw out. “I feel for the kid. So, do you take that everywhere?” The woman pointed to her katana near Michonne’s feet. She nodded once.

“Not much of a talker?”

“I’m tired,” she said in a low voice.

“I bet. Just you and your son?”

“Yes.”

“Well, if you didn’t bring any food, I’ll share what I have. We can ask Glenn to go back to Atlanta. We could use more food anyway.”

“I’m asking him if I could go with him,” Andrea responded to Jacqui.

The woman laughed again and Michonne wanted to punch her. They weren’t acting like the Alexandrians but it was damn close. She took a deep breath and let it out. These people didn’t know, she reminded herself.

She barely paid attention to what they were saying when another blonde, Amy, Andrea’s sister, came down and handed her a cloth. “Here. Carol said she had extra. Soap,” she passed her a bottle of body wash. “It’s mine and smells like flowers. I hope your son doesn’t mind.”

“Thank you,” she accepted. She called Andre over, took off his clothes and washed him up. He was yawning and she could see the sun had dropped further. She dressed Andre, passed the body wash back, rinsed the cloth and followed the women back to the camp where she saw a few blankets on the roof of her car. After making sure Andre was situated in the backseat she got in the front seat, covered herself with one of the blankets and tried to sleep.

 

 

Daryl stood behind the cover of some trees and watched as Michonne went to sleep. He couldn’t believe her. He wanted go to knock on the door and ask her what the hell. He knew she knew but she didn’t say a damn thing to him.

He guessed he didn’t blame her. Merle was right there. He knew Merle let her go or would let her go. Damn he was getting a headache tryin’ to figure this shit out. Maybe she didn’t think he knew. That wasn’t right. He’d spent months with her lookin’ for the Governor, they’d gone through Jocelyn together. She knew him. He knew her. He thought. He didn’t go by Alexandria a lot. Not after Rick anyway. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw her. He knew she thanked him for lookin’ for Rick. He stayed away after that. He let her down. He let them all down.

Daryl headed back to his tent. He’d talk to her in the mornin’.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl and Michonne aren't the only ones who remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this story. I stopped watching TWD around season five. Some of the things referenced are ones I looked up on YouTube. If some things weren't referenced it's because I didn't remember (no pun intended) and didn't want to go back and re-watch and try and work it in. Or, if it happened after season five I didn't look it up in my previous searches because I didn't know what to look for.
> 
> In this universe Michonne never told Rick about Andre. I also wanted to play around with some secondary characters, so if those characters seem OOC then they're OOC.

Michonne woke fast. She saw Andre still sleeping and she almost broke down in tears. After running her hand over his hair she looked out the windows at the sleeping camp. Silently she slipped out and made her way into the woods to use the bathroom. She felt him watching her. She knew it wasn’t in a perverted way. When she finished, throwing the wipes on the ground, he approached.

“Michonne? What the hell?” he whisper yelled.

She ran to him and held on tight. He put his arms around her as she tried to keep the tears at bay.

 

 

As soon as Michonne grabbed him he held her. He could feel her shake a little. His shirt started to get wet but he didn’t mind. He felt real now. Against his better judgement he tightened his arms around her.

“Michonne,” he said in a low tone.

“Shh, Daryl. Please. Just don’t talk,” she replied to him in a warbly voice.

He didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but when she finally looked up at him she kissed him on the mouth. “What the hell?” he whisper yelled again when she stopped.

“You’re real,” she breathed out, hugged him once again then moved away.

“Yeah, I’m real,” he said sarcastically. She gave him a look, he recognized it, the one that told him she wasn’t going to deal with any bullshit.

“I woke up in the camp in Atlanta. Andre.” She wiped her eyes. “He was with me. I wasn’t sure if I’d dreamt it or not, but I got us out of there.”

“He’s your son?”

She nodded once. “I lost him early. Walkers overran the place when I was out on a run. Mike.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “He killed him.”

“Mike’s his dad?”

“His sperm donor,” she shot back.

He gave her his ‘won’t deal with bullshit’ look.

“He.” She cleared his throat. “His father. I thought I accepted it. Apparently not.” She shook her head. “I got us out of there. The only person I could think to get to was you. If you remembered?” She smiled at him. It was a sight. He never saw her smile like this, all happy and bright. She had a nice smile. “I knew we’d be fine.”

“Mike didn’t remember?”

Michonne frowned now. “No, he didn’t. I…didn’t think to ask too many questions. I was more concerned with getting Andre out of there. I didn’t give a shit if it had been a dream or whatever, Andre was my first priority. You?”

Daryl let out a breath. “I woke up, same as you, in the tent me and Merle shared in the beginning. No one was actin’ any different that I saw. Merle’s still Merle. Almost shot Shane.”

“Mm. He’s the dark haired asshole cop? Jacqui told me yesterday.”

He laughed a little. “That’s him.”

“We can’t stay here, Daryl.”

“I know it, but if this is happenin’ again Rick’ll show up, too.”

“So we wait for him to show up then we leave.”

Daryl took a step back. “What?”

“We’ll wait for him to show up, for Carl’s sake, then we leave. This?” She waved her arm around. “It’s too open. Carl told me last time a herd made it up here and killed most of these people. We.” She pointed between him, her and the direction of her car. “Won’t be here.”

“Michonne,” he huffed.

“What are we going to do, Daryl? Go to Shane, he runs this little camp, right? And say what? ‘Hey, we lived this once before and most of you die. Except Carol. Here’s what you need to do to stay alive’. It will be worse than dealing with the Alexandrians. We might get killed. No one remembers, Daryl, and no one would listen to us if we tried to tell them.”

“I remember,” they heard a voice say.

 

 

Amy took a step back when she saw the Michonne woman pull her sword and Daryl raised his crossbow.

“What are you talking about?” Michonne asked. Amy noticed they didn’t lower the weapons aimed right at her.

“I remember. I remember I died here.” She saw Michonne and Daryl have a conversation without saying a word to each other. They lowered their weapons at the same time and she let out a grateful sigh. “It happened, didn’t it?” she questioned shakily.

“Yeah,” Daryl answered.

Amy closed her eyes and started to cry. After a few minutes she opened them to see them still standing there.

“Did Andrea?” she trailed off.

They had another silent conversation again before Michonne answered this time. “For a while. She was killed by a man who called himself ‘The Governor’.”

“Oh, god,” she whispered.

 

 

Michonne watched as Amy wept. She felt for the woman, she’d done the same thing when Andrea died, but it was so long ago. Years. Thinking about that time in her life, she’d been angry at Andrea for abandoning her. She’d gone out on a limb, when she only had walker versions of Mike and Terry, to rescue her and the bitch chose the Governor. Electricity and running water over someone that saved her. She guessed Andrea had tried to make it up or something, but it was too little too late.

She could have kicked her own ass for not paying attention. She’d been so wrapped up in seeing Daryl, she didn’t. It couldn’t happen again. Sure, she’d hear walkers, but if this was the beginning they’d be faster. People were always a gamble. She shouldn’t have let her guard down.

 

 

Daryl watched as Amy cried and it was pissin’ him off. Cryin’ wouldn’t change anything. Andrea died an ugly death, but she went into that shit with her eyes wide open. He looked at Michonne and saw her watching the girl, too, with an expressionless face.

“You need to shut up, Amy,” he growled. She looked up, outraged. “Yeah. You need to shut up. Walkers can hear, ya know. You get too loud, if any of those fuckin’ things are close, they’ll hear ya.” And it was at that moment Daryl knew Michonne was right. It would be worse than the Alexandrians.

“He’s right,” she snarled. “You people are too loud.”

He wanted to kick his own ass. He should’ve been payin’ attention. Anyone could have walked up on them, Amy did, and it could have been bad.

The girl wiped her eyes and tried to get herself under control. “How long?” She sniffed again. “How long did this last?”

“It didn’t end,” Michonne said evenly after a while.

“How? Why is this happening again?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know,” he finally answered.

“How long did…you live?”

“About seven years,” Michonne responded.

“Shit,” Amy gasped. “How bad was it?”

“Bad,” he bit out.

“Are you together?”

Daryl looked at Michonne again. It wasn’t any of her business if they was together. Michonne had been. Shit.

“Will it be a problem?” she asked in a hard voice.

“No. I, uh, it’s just, uh, it’s Daryl Dixon.”

“First of all, little girl, Daryl’s a good man. Better than all of the men in this Shangri-La you’re staying in,” Michonne sneered at her. Daryl was impressed. Amy looked like she was gonna piss her pants. “Second? It’s no one’s fucking business if we’re together or not. I heard Jacqui and her useless ass gossip. No wonder most of you die,” she added harshly.

“Sorry,” Amy whispered.

“What’d you want, Amy?” Daryl was done with this shit, too.

“I, uh, don’t want to die.”

“Then don’t.”

She scoffed. “Can you help me?”

“Get a knife. You gotta stab ‘em in the head. Learn to shoot a gun. If you kill a living asshole, know you gotta stab ‘em in the head after they’re dead.”

“That’s it?” she practically shrieked.

“Shut up. Learn to be quiet,” Michonne retorted.

“There ain’t no college class for how to kill walkers,” he mocked.

Michonne seemed to take some pity on the girl. “Basically, it’s what it boils down to, Amy. You should learn to kill walkers. And people.” She frowned at the face Amy made. “It’s ugly business, but it gets really bad. Be quiet. Find someplace with walls, start a watch, make sure it has easy access to water.”

“Grow your own food,” he added. It’s what they shoulda done in Alexandria when they got there. Those asshole Saviors woulda found the place sooner or later, but maybe it coulda gone different. He doubted it. They shoulda remembered the Governor and looked around.

He watched her flounce her way back to the camp. “Did you wanna say that to Deanna?”

She looked up at him. “No, but maybe we should have.”

 

 

“We can this time,” Daryl told her.

She backed up. “Are you kidding me? I’m not going anywhere near that place again, Daryl.” She blew out a breath. “I spent some time thinking about this as I went to sleep last night. Mostly wishing I’d read more science fiction,” she muttered to herself. “No one will believe us,” she directed to him. “More importantly? Those people we know? Glenn, Carl and Carol? They won’t be the same people. I wouldn’t want them to be.”

“What?”

“Think about this. You were friends with Rick. Good friends. Not right away, but after you and he and been in some bad situations. Do you really want your friend and his kid to go through those same things? Do you want Rick to go crazy after Lori dies? He was a wreck after Carl got his eye shot out. Worse after Carl died. Carol? She lost her daughter, right? I know you. You love Carol.”

Daryl squawked out he didn’t.

She rolled her eyes. “You do. Romantically or not, you love her.”

“She’s like my damn sister,” he protested loudly.

“Shh. You need to keep it down. I said romantically or not, you love her. You love Carl. But in order for them to be like they were the first time they’ll have to go through those experiences again. Even then they might not turn out like we remember. Frankly, I care enough about Carl to hope he never has to put his mother down.”

“Rick?”

“I need to see if Andre’s up,” she deflected.

“Michonne?”

“Rick.” She paused.

“His wife is alive.”

She frowned again. “I’m not a homewrecker, Daryl. I hope they work it out. I do. I loved Rick in my own way. Not like I loved Mike before this or like I love you.”

His mouth dropped open. “You love me?”

“Yes, Daryl. I love you.” She laughed when he moved away from her. “Relax. I know you don’t love me like I do you and I’ve accepted it. Or will accept it. Shit. What’s the correct tense?”

“Fuck if I know. This shit’s givin’ me a headache.” He lowered his gaze to the ground. “You love me?”

“I need to go check on Andre,” she countered and headed back to her car.

“You bring any food?” he asked when she took a few steps.

She swung around to look at him. “No. I packed clothes. I figured I might be able to have someone watch him while I did a run. Carl did say they had a few boring weeks here before Rick and the walkers showed up. It looks like Rick’s not here yet, so I need to get going.”

“Uh, me and Merle’ll go hunt somethin’ up. You don’t need to do a run.”

She walked back to him and put her hand on his cheek. “Thank you. I promise to not say ‘I love you’ anymore. It’ll be like…before. Kind of.” She wrinkled her brows. “Maybe.”

“This shit’s givin’ me a headache,” he repeated.

She laughed again. “This isn’t funny, I know. I’m…happy I found you.”

 

 

Daryl watched as Michonne made her way back to the camp. She loved him. He couldn’t believe it. He loved her. She was like his damn sister now. He’d hated not bein’ able to tell her anything about Rick. She said she appreciated it and she wished she could have done the same for both of them. He never once thought she loved him. It sounded like she loved him, loved him.

He couldn’t think about that anymore. He headed back to camp to see Merle standin’ with Glenn, Andrea, George Morales, Jacqui and T-Dog.

“Merle, where the hell are you goin’?” he shouted.

“On a run, baby brother. Someone’s gotta make sure the Chinaman gets where he’s goin’,” Merle said with a grin on his face. He could see the others didn’t want him to go. Shit. He was gonna be left on the roof.

“I was goin’ huntin’. Needed some help,” he muttered.

“If you can’t handle it yourself, Darylina, you don’t deserve what you can’t get,” he spat back. “Come on, Chinaman. Wastin’ daylight.”

 

 

Michonne watched as Glenn took the rest of the run team and left, Merle being his usual pleasant self. She saw Daryl gape as Merle took off. Oh hell no. He gets left on the roof. Great. She went over to Amy, who was still pouting.

“Can you watch Andre?”

“Why?” she snapped.

“I’m going on a run, that’s why.” She looked around. “If you watch him, feed him, I’ll teach you how to kill walkers,” she offered quietly.

“Will you?”

“Yes.”

She looked at her son and held out her arms. “Okay. Watch out for Andrea. Please.”

It wouldn’t be the first time. She went over to Daryl’s tent and opened it. “Come on. We’ll take my car.”

He picked his crossbow back up and followed her to her car.

“What kind of car is this?” he asked as he got in the passenger seat. She noticed everyone was watching them as she started driving off, Shane running after the car.

“It’s a Prius. Electric and gas. Do you remember what store?”

“Not the name but where it is. We ran into some Vatos.”

“Gang members?” she asked.

“Not really. Rick, he dropped a bunch of guns and those guys tried to grab ‘em. Took Glenn. We traded one of theirs for Glenn and left some of the guns. They were protectin’ some old folks.”

“We’ll catch up to them and I don’t give a shit what you have to do to Merle, get him to come back,” she demanded.

“No shit. I know what happens.”

 

 

Daryl watched as they came up behind the truck. Michonne drove around it, passed it then slammed on the breaks. The truck slammed in its breaks and all of them jumped out of the truck.

“What the hell?” Glenn yelled.

“Merle. Get your ass out of that fuckin’ truck,” Daryl yelled at his brother. When Merle jumped out he headed right for him. Daryl swung at his brother with his crossbow and watched him drop to the ground. Michonne put her katana in his face.

“Get the fuck in her car,” he ordered his brother.

He saw everyone’s mouth fall open. He didn’t know if it was because he swung at Merle or ‘cause ‘Chonne stuck her katana in his face.

“What in the hell, Daryl?” Merle screamed.

“Shut up. You make too much noise,” Michonne told him.

“Listen here, nigger.”

Daryl pointed his crossbow at his brother. “Don’t call her that again, Merle. Now quit bein’ an ass. Get in her car. You’re so fuckin’ loud you’ll have walkers all over you.”

Merle got to his feet and swung at him. Daryl blocked the punch. Before he knew what happened Merle was on the ground again, groaning. He looked up and saw Michonne putting her katana away. “It won’t keep him out for long.”

He dropped his bow to his side, picked Merle up and put his arm across his shoulders. Michonne opened the back passenger door, Daryl slid him in there and closed it. Michonne headed for the driver’s side, got in and turned the car on. They didn’t pay any attention to the group standing on the road as they drove off.

 

 

“What the hell just happened?” Andrea asked the group.

“I don’t know, but she’s a serious badass,” Glenn remarked.

“I’ll say. She just hit him in the head with that sword she has,” Jacqui said.

“Maybe she can teach me how to do that,” T-Dog mused out loud.

“Maybe we can give her food to do it all the time,” George added.

Jacqui started laughing. “I’ll go with it.”

Glenn headed back to the truck. “Come on. We need to go. I prefer to do this by myself. I can take you back,” he offered and rolled his eyes as everyone got in.

 

 

Daryl ignored Shane when they pulled back into the camp. He took Merle out of the car and dragged him to their tent. He went and found Michonne with an angry Amy.

“…watch her,” he heard Amy hiss.

“What in the hell was that?” Shane came over yelling and waving his arms.

“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” Michonne said in her quiet way.

“I run this camp,” he shot back.

“Man, back off,” Daryl stepped into his space. “What? We gotta ask you for permission to go somewhere? Last I heard this was still America. We can go where the fuck we want.”

“I run this camp and I don’t need two cowboys runnin’ around doin’ your own thing. I’m trying to keep us alive. You two just takin’ off and comin’ back stops. Now.”

“Fine,” Michonne answered. “My son and I will leave tomorrow morning.”

“Okay, I think we all need to settle down,” Dale interjected. “They weren’t gone long, Shane. They only came back with Merle. Personally, it was a good decision. I’d rather he stay here, where we can keep an eye on him, then let him go with Glenn and the others.”

“I agree,” Maria Morales seconded. “He doesn’t like us. He could have done something to hurt my husband, Glenn, Jacqui and T-Dog.”

“If Glenn gets hurt who else will go into Atlanta?” Jim asked. “No one here. It’s too dangerous. He’s the best choice because he knows the city. I don’t. Do you?”

 

 

Shane looked at the rest of the camp that was now surrounding him, Daryl and Michonne. He wanted Merle to go, hoping the man wouldn’t come back. That the group would do something to him. He was a loose cannon. The group that went wouldn’t do anything to Merle. He should have gone himself. He saw Lori and Carl near the back of the group, listening.

“Don’t do it again,” he said as he pointed his finger at both of them, turned around and left. He wasn’t surprised when Lori followed him.

“Hey. What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong? That woman comin’ in here, taking off, with Daryl Dixon no less, and interrupting the run. Glenn has a schedule he likes to keep, Lori. Bein’ stuck in Atlanta after dark isn’t on it.”

She held up her hands to placate him. He raised his eyebrows at her. “I’m sure Michonne knows it’s bad to be out after dark, Shane. She did come from Atlanta. I think she was trying to protect the group. Everyone could see Merle.” She trailed off.

“He’s an ass,” Shane sighed. “I know. I shouldn’t have let him go.”

She rubbed her hand up and down his arm and he relaxed. “I don’t think Merle lets anyone tell him what to do. Look at it this way,” she said. “If he’s going to be pissed at anyone it will be his brother.”

Shane had to admit that was the bright side of the whole thing. He was going to have to do something about Merle Dixon sooner or later.

The fact she was talking to him normally and not throwing a fit relaxed him even more. The little almost showdown they had about warning the person on the radio was put on the back burner. “I asked Carol to watch Carl,” she told him in a low voice.

“You did, huh?” he asked in the same tone.

She moved away from him, checked on Carl and went into the woods.

 

 

Michonne rolled her eyes when she saw Lori say something to Carl, ruffle his hair and walk toward the woods. The woman was not subtle at all. Looking around at who was left, maybe she didn’t have to be. She knew about Judith. Rick had told her after the Saviors showed up and took their furniture. Which was never going to happen to her again. She took hold of Andre’s hand, promised Amy she’d figure out a way to help her learn to kill walkers and headed back down to the water. She needed to be away from these people.

She didn’t know who was coming, but she wasn’t worried about being killed by them. She was in shock when she saw Carol with a little girl and Carl.

“Can we join you?” she asked timidly.

She sounded so different from the woman she’d been before. ‘Those are their borders. We didn’t agree to those’ rang in her head.

“Sure,” she invited.

“Okay, Sophia, you can wade for a little while,” the woman told her daughter. Sophia smiled a little and took her shoes and socks off. Carl wasn’t far behind her. Both kids headed for Andre.

“He’s a handsome little boy,” Carol offered.

If she’d want anyone to change it would be Carol. But not at the expense of her daughter. Just enough to get out from under her asshole husband. She’d recognized the type the minute Dale introduced him. Michonne wouldn’t be surprised if Carol had been abused.

“Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone continues to read this I thank you. As I've said with 'Wish' (no shameless self-promoting or anything) I like to finish what I start. My muse kicked into gear and I ran with it. I'm not sure when I'll finish (I have several chapters written that need polish) but I will finish.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote a few chapters for the beginning, the middle and the end but haven't tied them together. I may not. I'll keep this up until I decide.
> 
> Fall'n Grace's 'You Get One Do-Over, Rick Grimes' and my disdain for Gimble inspired this story


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